Legal & General Group Plc Sells 34,690 Shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. $CF

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its CF Industries stake by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 34,690 shares and ending with 733,273 shares worth about $56.7 million.
• CF Industries beat quarterly expectations on May 6, reporting EPS of $3.98 versus $2.63 expected and revenue of $1.99 billion versus $1.84 billion forecast, with revenue up 19.4% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: the stock has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $117.69, even though several firms recently raised targets and one upgraded the stock to Strong Buy.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 733,273 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 34,690 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.47% of CF Industries worth $56,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CF. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 3.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 161.1% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,870 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 7,324 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 14,703 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,149,000 after buying an additional 4,252 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 21.8% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,558 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CF Industries by 141.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 790 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CF shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CF Industries from $95.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on CF Industries from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on CF Industries from $132.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded CF Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their target price on CF Industries from $86.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $117.69.

CF Industries Stock Down 3.6%

NYSE CF opened at $112.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $123.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.15. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.42 and a fifty-two week high of $141.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.42.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $1.35. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. CF Industries had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 23.73%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CF Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is 17.97%.

Insider Activity at CF Industries

In other news, VP Richard A. Hoker sold 6,184 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.33, for a total transaction of $676,096.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 34,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,775,711.55. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Patrick Mcgrane sold 3,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.50, for a total transaction of $427,089.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,232,256.50. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 79,193 shares of company stock valued at $9,659,443 over the last three months. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About CF Industries

CF Industries Holdings, Inc is a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial customers. The company specializes in the production of ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), nitric acid and ammonium nitrate, which serve as key inputs for fertilizer blends, industrial chemicals and other downstream applications.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, CF Industries operates production facilities and distribution terminals across North America and the United Kingdom.

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